In the midst of the cries of "suppressing thieves", Li Yu immediately issued a mobilization order, and Zhang Zhiyao then read out the order to send troops on behalf of the presidential office:

The First Route Army was commanded by President Li Yu and Commander-in-Chief Du Wenhuan, including Zhang Ding's Cavalry Left Association, Hou Shijie's Infantry Front Association, Sun Shoufa's Infantry Left Association, Zhou Yuji's Infantry Rear Association, Jin Guoding's Gun Right Association, Xu Sheng's Shanxi Infantry Left Association, Sun Siwang's Great Synchronous Arms Association, Zhang Mengcun, and Hui Dengxiang's Fengzhou Armed Auxiliary Soldiers 10,000 people.

The Second Route Army was commanded by Zhao Ji, the commander-in-chief of the Presidential Palace, and Ge Kuli, the military affairs of Zanhua, including the cavalry front association of Kubai, the cavalry right association of Meng Ke, the cavalry rear association of Qiu Xian, the Chahar association of Konggol, Sun Xianzu, and Wang Mumin's Shanxi armed auxiliary troops of 10,000 people.

The others, Batu in Datong, Terige in Guihua, Xue Xianguang in Dushikou, Ma Guangyuan in Taiyuan, and Bai Xianzhi in Xuanhua, must maintain local stability, and resolutely fight back if there is an attack or disturbance by foreign enemies.

After the order was read, everyone erupted in enthusiastic cheers - except for Zhang Chuanjie's infantry right association and Ding Qiming's artillery left association, almost all the main forces of the Datong army attacked, and this iron fist was by no means something that the thieves could withstand. Bao Zhen, Wang Fang, and Liu Zongzhou, on behalf of the Liberal Party, the Civic Party, and the Shixue Society, announced that the three parties would jointly recruit volunteers to participate in the war with the army; At the same time, Bao Zhen also said on behalf of the Datong Chamber of Commerce (a hodgepodge formed by the Fengzhou Chamber of Commerce as the main body and local chambers of commerce) that according to the tradition of the army to do whatever business goes, caravans will be organized to accompany the army to ensure supply.

Just like Fengzhou in those years, once the mobilization order was issued, all parts of the federation were boiling, the reservists rushed to report to their units, and the garrisons brought their own weapons and dry food to the county militia brigade headquarters to enlist auxiliaries, and immediately rushed to the state capital to assemble - the army grew rapidly like a snowball, and on the wide straight road, one after another rushed to the south, there were battalions with the tricolor black eagle flag, auxiliary soldiers with banners such as "naturalization battalion", "Taiyuan battalion", "Liaozhou battalion", etc., volunteers with wolf head flags, and even lamas with the army. Monk and imam.

Officers of the Department of Missions shouted on the side of the road to cheer up: "Brothers, who are we?" ”

"Federal Citizen." The soldiers shouted as they walked.

"What are we fighting for?"

"For the homeland, for the loved ones."

"Someone wants us to go back to the days of being oppressed by the government, what do you say?"

"Destroy them!"

"Brothers, sing our song and destroy the enemy."

"The world is for the public, our country is the sect, the people are the citizens, and the country is said to be the same; The tricolor eagle banner, freedom and equality, not tyranny, but charity; Homogeneous and different customs, the legacy of martyrs, sincere friendship, and the eternal family and country; The people are rich and the country is rich, the people are strong and the country is strong, East Asia is dominant, and only we are the federation. The soldiers' songs rang out, shaking the heavens and the earth and soaring into the sky.

Shanxi Governor Cai Maode went out of Taiyuan City to see off the army, only to say a few words of loyalty and patriotism attracted a boo, had to retreat to the side, but everything in front of him really surprised him - accustomed to seeing the official army in the leather whip, stick driven by the scene, also accustomed to the official army about to collapse, everywhere desertion scene, the Datong army forgot the emperor and the court, but instead ran to the battlefield with his head held high, what is going on?

On the August side, on the embankment on the north bank of the Yellow River, Li Yu looked at Mengjindu on the opposite bank for a long time - after years of drought, the Yellow River is no longer a moat, although there is still a turbid river flow, but the water level is obviously very low, the river channel is full of reeds, several riverbeds have appeared on the water surface, and there are no defenders found on the opposite bank, it seems deserted, only a small number of ordinary people occasionally beat gongs on the embankment to walk through.

Li Yu shook his head and put down his clairvoyance, and said to a white-haired veteran next to him: "The Yellow River has no danger to defend, the officers and soldiers are insufficient, and sticking to the embankment of thousands of miles will disperse the troops and wait to be beaten. ”

Xu Dingguo, a native of Taikang, Henan, served under the account of Yuan Keli, the governor of Denglai, Tianqinian, belonged to the senior veteran military affairs in the Ming army, two years ago he was reappointed as the chief soldier of Shanxi, but because Fengzhou and Shanxi military merchants joined forces to reject the inability to take office, the old man held the title of the chief soldier of Shanxi for a long time and had nothing to do, and the court could not stand it, and transferred the chief soldier of the river defense Jiang Pai to the chief soldier of Baoding, and reappointed him as the general soldier of Henan, and trained the new army based on the river defense army, and now has 10,000 people in his hands, and is the only decent officer and army north of the Yellow River. After Hou Sui arrived, he was hit head-on in Zhuxian Town, and he started the idea of sticking to the river defense, but Xu Dingguo's official army was too weak to be useful, and the Datong army suddenly entered Henan and scared him, but soon understood that this was to grab territory, and tens of thousands of people could not deal with Li Zicheng, so it was okay to send this group of northern captives to guard the river embankment, he was a famous man, and he disdained to see a martial artist, so he sent Xu Dingguo to pass the word.

"It's just the view of the literati, the naturalized uncle doesn't have to listen to him, in fact, he has no soldiers to use, he is crazy, a few days ago Liu Zeqing was ordered to rescue Kaifeng, just after fighting with the thieves, there was a camp roar, and the Shandong soldiers ran home." Xu Dingguo squeezed his eyes while talking, Li Yu smiled knowingly - Ying Xiao is not surprising for an army with many recruits and scattered people, but it will never happen in Liu Zeqing's department, this guy is good at winning people's hearts, and his subordinates are mostly from his hometown Caozhou, the officers and soldiers are extremely centripetal, and they will take the initiative to return to the team if they are scattered, the so-called Ying Xiao must be a ghost trick, it is okay to deceive the Chinese courtiers, but it can't fool the old military affairs, Xu Dingguo shook his head with a bitter smile and asked, "Does Naturalized Bo want to cross the river?" I know of a few shallows that are cut off. ”

Li Yu didn't answer, walked down the embankment with the veteran, found a pergola to sit down, beckoned the guards to serve the meal, accompanied the veteran to drink a few sips of wine, and apologized for preventing the veteran from entering Shanxi in the first place.

"Forget about the past, the old man joined the army at the age of sixteen, he has fought the Shuixi thief, the White Lotus Sect, the Jiannu, and the Liukou, he has seen everything, and he understands everything, I am from Henan, and I stay in my hometown," Xu Dingguo drank a few sips of wine, and gradually became more talkative, and whispered to Li Yu, "The old brother understands it, this Ming Dynasty is not successful, you young people still have a long way to go in the future, you should think more about yourself!" ”

"Junior, thank you for your forgiveness, brother, I see that many of your soldiers are holding wooden sticks in their hands, is there a lack of weapons, I can support you some." Li Yu was apologetic and wanted to do something for the veteran.

"It's true that there is a lack of weapons, but there are still knives and spears, I don't dare to send them, the brothers get the weapons on the front foot, and they dare to take them to change the nest head to eat, this is not to blame the brothers, they are all hungry, and it is hard to be a soldier in the court!" Xu Dingguo's eyes were red and he replied.

"I'll give you some food, so that my brother can eat for a few days." Li Yu sighed and said again.

"No, there is a shortage of food everywhere now, you still have a hard battle to fight, keep it for yourself, my brother's soldiers are too weak, and I can't help with a few full meals," Xu Dingguo shook his head, suddenly pressed Li Yu's shoulder and gritted his teeth and said, "Good brother, my brother is bitter, the thieves troubled Henan back then, killed dozens of people in my Taikang hometown, and the leader was the thief's subordinate Gao Jie, but unfortunately he was recruited as an official soldier, and he couldn't kill this thief for a while, you have to avenge the old brother and kill the thieves, old brother please you." ”

Li Yu grabbed the veteran who was about to bow down, nodded and agreed, "Don't worry, brother, the juniors will never let go of the thieves", and then helped the veteran to sit down. The two talked for a while, and the veteran was about to leave, Li Yu helped him get on his horse and said in a low voice: "Old brother, you asked me if I crossed the river, and I will tell you now that our army may be able to take Luoyang tomorrow, and the juniors will kill a group of thieves first to vent their anger for the seniors." ”

That night, the Datong army waded across the river, the black pressure of the team suddenly poured onto the embankment, the army patrol was stupid, knocked a few gongs and fled, Li Yu immediately on the south bank of the embankment, ordered the army to lift the Tang officer Fan Erxi and Hou Shijie's infantry to attack Luoyang, Zhang Ding's cavalry Zuo Xie rushed to attack Xingyang Tiger Pass, and led the Flying Tiger Battalion 1,500 cavalry to Mengjindu - the Mongolian leaders recommended to the Flying Tiger Battalion The children are all good at riding and shooting, fighting, Li Yu looked at it and liked it, and specially took them to the battlefield to experience it.

The thieves stayed in Mengjindu less than 1,000 people, most of them were ordinary people with wooden sticks, the Flying Tiger Battalion captured them all without effort, Li Yu ordered the two hundred people with weapons to be beheaded on the spot, and then sat firmly in the big tent and waited for news everywhere - this night, Mengjin crossed the river with bright lights, the front controlled the ferry, the auxiliary soldiers then set up a few simple pontoon bridges, the brigade of men and horses and artillery, and baggage continued to reach the south bank of the Yellow River, when the day was about to dawn, Du Wenhuan took the supervisor Liu Wenzhong, Zanhua Mao Yuanyi, Yang Tinglin, staff officers Zhang Zhiyao, Xue Zongzhou, Jiang Tianyi (Jin Sheng's disciple) crossed the river to Mengjindu, Li Yu ordered the guards to spread out the map, and several people whispered around the map to discuss.

The situation was normal, as reported by Luoyang Titang, the intrusive army was not fortified in Henan Province, and Du Wenhuan joked that the intrusive thieves used Luoyang as bait to lure Sun Chuanting of Tongguan to take the bait, but he did not expect to catch a tiger.

"Where are Zhao Ji and Gecuri?" Li Yu asked, according to the pre-war deployment, the First Route Army crossed the Yellow River from Lu'an Mansion through Huaiqing Mansion into Henan Mansion, first took Luoyang and Xingyang, and then slowly advanced to the east, luring the Chuang army under Kaifeng City to a decisive battle, while the Second Route Army entered Weihui Mansion from Zezhou, and waited for an opportunity to cross the river to attack the rear of the Chuang army after the decisive battle began.

"The Second Route Army walked at the southern foot of Taihang Mountain, and the marching speed was slower, and it should reach Huojia at present." Zhang Zhiyao replied.

"Before time has passed, I have ordered the iron cavalry to stop advancing and let Sun Xianzu send some people to investigate the location of the river crossing first," Du Wenhuan waved his hand, and then pointed to the map and asked Li Yu, "What about Luoyang?" I'm worried that Sun Chuanting won't take over. ”

"As long as I want Meng Jindu, Sun Chuanting will not dare to go out of Tongguan, so I will let Gonggong Liu impeach him and stop his army." Li Yu glanced at Liu Wenzhong, and Liu Wenzhong immediately smiled and nodded in agreement-Zhou Yanru strongly asked the emperor to remove the internal prison, and Gao Qiqian's job was smashed, but he didn't have any, and his military exploits continued, and the more he lived, the more nourishing he became.

At noon, Fan Erxi came back, just entered the camp and shouted "Our army has recovered Luoyang", and the barracks immediately resounded with cheers - in fact, the Datong army took Luoyang City very easily, the strength of the army in Luoyang is called 10,000 people, in fact, there are only five or six hundred local bandits, these people are not prepared for war, but specially for the army to torture, who has money and food must be obediently handed over, if you don't give it to the death, the big families in Luoyang City are the first to be unlucky, and then the middle family suffers, and finally the people who have a little savings are also in danger. When the Datong army arrived at the city, the common people took the initiative to open the city gate to greet them, and then arrested the puppet officials all over the street, and those who caught them were immediately beaten to death with sticks. Hou Shijie did not bother to enter Luoyang, but it took a lot of time to maintain order, and it was not until after dawn that more than 300 heads of the intruders were cut off in public, and Luoyang City returned to calm.

Fan Erxi boasted to Li Yu about the recovery of Luoyang, and pushed a stout man behind him forward: "President, this Li Jiyu, Li Daxia, is the person from our Luoyang Titang Institute, and he is the one who led the people in the city to open the city gate." ”

Li Jiyu, a native of Dengfeng, Henan, has been brave and fierce since he was a child, and is a well-known local tyrant, who has been to Fengzhou twice when he was a caravan guard, Zhang Shi'an lacks this kind of outlaw with kung fu in his hands, and found that talents must be pulled into the gang, this guy half pushed and half became the assistant of Luoyang Titang. Li Zicheng entered Luoyang to kill and rob indiscriminately, and several rich families in Luoyang Titang died and fled, this guy felt that the time to show his face had come, and he asked a group of little brothers to join the army, and he became a small puppet official, but he knew in his heart that although the thief was fierce, he couldn't make a big deal, and he still had to pick up the thickest thighs in the troubled times, and the news to Fengzhou was never broken, and this treasure was really right.

"Subordinate, subordinate see the president." When Li Jiyu saw Li Yu for the first time, he suddenly felt panicked in his heart - the president is so tall, like a mountain pressing over.

"Li Daxia did a good job, the Datong army entered Henan to suppress thieves, the first great credit belongs to you, may I ask what rank you are now?" Li Yu asked with a smile.

"The subordinates are now the subordinates of the Datong Army."

"From now on, you are the Luoyang garrison, a military rank guerrilla inferior."

was promoted so quickly, Li Jiyu was surprised and delighted: "Subordinate Xie, thank you for the president's kindness, but your subordinates have never been a big official, so they can't keep Luoyang City!" ”

"You don't have to defend Luoyang, I only let you maintain the peace of one side, and even if you make meritorious service to keep the people, you can take all means for this, understand, I'm talking about all methods."

After sending Li Jiyu away, Li Yu said with some dissatisfaction: "What are Hou Shijie and Tie Biao still doing in Luoyang, let them hand over Luoyang to the local gentry and withdraw to Mengjindu immediately." ”

In the evening, the infantry front association rushed back to Mengjindu, and the Datong army immediately blew the trumpet and rushed to Xingyang, where Mengjindu handed over to Wang Fang and Wang Zhong's volunteers - the chamber of commerce spent a lot of money and hired more than 2,000 people, almost all of whom were veterans who had itchy hands without fighting, and it was more than enough to guard the palm-sized ferry.

Tiger Prison Pass, from Luoyang to Kaifeng Road, the cavalry left association long-distance attack, taking advantage of the night to approach the pass, but did not expect that there is also a camp guard under the pass, the iron cavalry unexpectedly annihilated the camp in the 1,000 troops, but the guard pass broke into the army alarmed, after a gong sounded, five or six thousand men, women and children poured out, holding knives, spears and sticks all over the city, the Tiger Prison was guarded into an iron bucket.

Zhang Ding secretly called bad luck, ordered the artillery to attack the city, the cavalry of the Datong army are equipped with five mortars, each battalion is also equipped with five light tiger squat cannons, can hit five taels of lead heavy lifting guns also have some, horse guns are more, but these weapons are not suitable for siege, there are no heavy artillery and siege equipment, the iron cavalry cannons beat the people in the city to the ground, but can not shake the city, the defenders also from time to time with guns to return fire. The two sides fought until the sky was bright, and the iron cavalry temporarily ceased to eat, and the people in the city were very angry when they smelled the food, and scolded the Datong army for being a northern captive with a beard, and the Datong army also scolded the people in the city for being thieves with a thousand knives.

It is unheard of to attack the city with cavalry, if you rush up, the president will not look for trouble, and others will also be a laughing stock, too careless, the sneak attack becomes a strong attack, it seems that it is planted today - Zhang Ding was retreating, and suddenly heard the city scolding him for being a northern captive, and immediately became angry, rushed to the city and opened his voice and scolded.

"You thieves, do you know the sky-striking eagles inside and outside the border walls back then? That's your grandfather and me, your head must be from northern Shaanxi, not cowardly and single-handedly, grandpa tore his mouth. ”

Ma Jinzhong also shouted: "Have you heard of 100,000 mixed people? When grandpa pulled the flag and rebelled, Li Blind was a little captain, he was a fart! ”

The famous Henan people don't know about the eagle and the 100,000 people, but everyone in the northwest knows it, the two former giants are in front of them, and the city was quiet all of a sudden, and after a while, there was a northern Shaanxi accent that said: "The carving master, the mixed 100,000 masters, it's not that the small ones are against each other, how did you become a gang with the officials and soldiers?" ”

"Do you see this banner clearly? The official army is a ball, and the grandfathers are the Datong Federation Army, which specializes in opposing the imperial court, and beating you is to see that Li Blind is not pleasing to the eye and is not beaten. Mixed 100,000 shouted as he pointed to the tricolor black eagle flag.

"Master Diao, my name is Hou Xiaohao, I have worshiped your teacher, you still remember me, the apprentice will salute you." A big man shouted at Zhang Ding through the crowd.

Zhang Ding is famous in the northwest, the brand is loud, black and white are played, there are many people who have worshiped him, and he thought for a long time before saying: "You are a member of the old Hou family in Yulin, your uncle Hou Shijie is behind, you don't surrender quickly, your uncle will have the heart to pick up the skin and cramp when he sees you as a thief." ”

"It's not my fault, I became a deserter and had nowhere to go to be a thief," Hou Xiaohao was startled, he knew the methods of the elders of the Hou family, and after hesitating for a while, he shouted to his subordinates, "I thought the official army was coming, but it turned out to be my own people, don't fight, don't fight." ”

The leading people of northern Shaanxi want to surrender, and the people of Henan have nothing to say, and to be honest, the other party's guns also scared them enough. The Tiger Prison was closed, Xingyang and Zhengzhou surrendered without a fight, and the west gate of Kaifeng was opened.